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About The Breretons from Wybunbury.
My early Brereton ancestors have been traced to Wybunbury, Cheshire, England. This is also sometimes spelt Wynbunbury. Wybunbury is pronounced "Win-bree".

William Large Brereton 1883-1973 left England and started our USA line.

I have taken various DNA tests and would encourage other Brereton's to do the same. If you join the Brereton DNA project, link given below, you will be able to share information with  fellow researchers and get a better rate on the DNA kit.

On this site I am also going to include Brereton trees from the area around Nantwich and Northwich,  Cheshire. I hope that we will be able to obtain DNA from various Cheshire trees and see if we can find  connections between them.

DNA has shown I also connect to 2 Brereton families from Ireland. I have put the trees on here. I also connect to a David Brewerton. To see his line, William  Brewerton c1765 Cheshire, go to www.onenamedstudy.tribalpages.com

Tree 1: David Brereton 1732 King's County, Ireland.
 Tree 2: Arthur Brereton 1791 King's County, Ireland.

 There are many people with the surname Brereton. Some of these believe that they are  all descendants from the Breretons of Cheshire. However, whilst the Brereton DNA study is just  getting under way it already shows that there are at least 4 distinct trees. We have 13 members so far. Nine, including myself, connect to the Wybunbury line, two from the Norfolk  line which can trace its tree via paper trail to the ancient Cheshire Breretons, one from a tree that  starts in Tarvin and one from Barbados.

THERE IS A MORE COMPREHENSIVE TREE AT www.cheshirebreretons.tribalpages.com

There have been several towns and villages called Brereton or something similar and when people  started using surnames about 900 years ago some would have been known by their village. Also  servants often took the family's name that they worked for. So rather than being a descendant of a  lord you might be the descendant of a lords manservant.
 The only way of finding out the truth of the matter is by DNA testing.

 The Brereton family tree begins in 1175 with William de Brereton. His family had arrived from France  with William the Conqueror, and that William was named after him as a tribute - it was to become a  recurring name within the family. Later, another unfortunate William Brereton, along with four  companions, was arrested and sent to the Tower of London charged with high treason as lovers of Anne  Boleyn . Despite protestations of innocence, they were sentenced to death and beheaded on Tower Hill  in 1536. The Brereton family exerted power and influence over Cheshire with holdings in Handforth,  Malpas, Cheadle and at their country seat at Brereton Hall. It was a Sir William Brereton who also  headed parliamentarian forces at the Battle of Middlewich and the siege of Nantwich in the English  Civil Wars. The Brereton's established Handforth Hall when they became lords of the manor of the  Bosden area in the early 1500s. One Sir Richard Brereton was the last owner of Tatton Park before  the Egerton family took it over.

According to the 'Surname Database.'
 This is an English locational name from the places in England so called 'Brereton' in Staffordshire  and Cheshire, and 'Brearton' in West Yorkshire. The place name derivations are slightly different as  can be seen from records in the Domesday Book of 1066. Brereton in Cheshire and Brearton in West  Yorkshire are recorded as 'Bretone' and 'Brareton' respectively and derive from the Old English pre  7th Century elements 'braer' or 'brer', briar and 'tun', meaning enclosure or settlement. Brereton  in Staffordshire is first recorded as 'breredon', the second element being 'dun' meaning hill. The  two names would therefore denote one who lived at the settlement where briars grew, or at the briar  hill. John Brereton and Margaret Kempton were married in London 1585. The first recorded spelling of  the family name is shown to be that of Richard de Brertona, which was dated 1176, Yorkshire Charter  Rolls, during the reign of King Henry 11, 'The Builder of Churches', 1154-1189. Surnames became  necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax.  Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to  astonishing variants of the original spelling.


ALL NAMES SHOULD EITHER HAVE A COLOUR OR A PLACE NAME ATTACHED TO THEM TO SHOW WHICH TREE THEY BELONG TO. TREES FROM CHESHIRE. Below are trees from various districts of Cheshire. NANTWICH and district. NANTWICH. TREE 1: Ralph Brereton 1630-1717 Nantwich. WYBUNBURY. Be aware that the christening record may show Wybunbury but the parents may have come from one of the many surrounding villages. Ancient Parish: Wybunbury. Constituent Townships: Basford, Batherton, Blakenhall, Bridgemere, Checkley cum Wrinehill, Chorlton, Doddington, Hatherton, Hough, Hunsterson, Lea, Rope, Shavington cum Gresty, Stapeley, Walgherton, Weston, Wybunbury. Part of Willaston township was in this parish. The parish was originally much larger, and included the parishes of Audlem, Coppenhall, Wistaston, and (possibly) Baddiley. Registration Districts Nantwich (1837-1937) Crewe (1937-74) Congleton & Crewe (1974-88) South Cheshire (1988-98) Cheshire Central (1998-2007) Cheshire (2007-09) Cheshire East (2009+) TREE 1: Thomas Brereton c1650 = Unknown. Wybunbury. (1650) TREE 2: John Brereton c1749 = Betty Edwards. Wybunbury. TREE 3: William Brereton c1752 = Unknown. Wybunbury. (My tree) TREE 4:Samuel Brereton c1755 Hunsterson (George=Mary) TREE 5: George Brereton c1776 = Unknown. Weston. (Weston) TREE 6: William Brereton 1811 = Julia E Gregory. Wybunbury. TREE 7: Thomas Brereton c1804 = Frances Forster. Wybunbury TREE 8:John Brereton c1820 = Martha Foxley. Wybunbury. ACTON. Acton was a township in Acton ancient parish, Nantwich hundred, which became a civil parish in 1866. It includes the hamlet of Dorfold and part of Burford. The population was 262 in 1801, 351 in 1851, 258 in 1901, and 293 in 1951. Registration Districts Nantwich (1837-1937) Crewe (1937-74) Congleton & Crewe (1974-88) South Cheshire (1988-98) Cheshire Central (1998-2007) Cheshire (2007-09) Cheshire East (2009+) TREE 1: John Brereton 1596 = Anne Gardener. Bunbury/Acton/Nantwich TREE 2: John Brereton 1744 = Ann Unknown . Hurlston/Acton. NORTHWICH and district. ASTBURY. In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Astbury like this: ASTBURY, a village and a parish in Congleton district, Cheshire. The village stands on an affluent of the river Dane, adjacent to the North Staffordshire railway, near the Macclesfield canal, 1½ mile SW of Congleton; and has a post office under Congleton, and fairs on 30 April and 30 Oct. The parish includes the townships of Davenport, Somerford-Booths, Hulme-Walfield, Radnor, Buglawton, Congleton, Newbold-Astbury, Moreton-cum-Alcumlow, Smallwood, and Odd-Rode. TREE 1: Thomas Brereton c1790 = Hannah Unknown. Astbury ASHTON. Ashton was a township in Tarvin ancient parish, Eddisbury hundred which became a civil parish in 1866. The civil parish was renamed Ashton Hayes in 2004. It included the hamlets of Ashton Hayes, Brine's Brow and Woodside. The population was 342 in 1801, 430 in 1851, 408 in 1901, and 394 in 1951. TREE 1: James Brereton c1799 = Ann Unknown. Ashton, Tarvin. SANDBACH Sandbach was a township in Sandbach ancient parish, Northwich hundred (SJ 7560), which became a civil parish in 1866. It includes the hamlets of Booth lane Head, Brickhouses, Ettiley Heath, Forge Fields, Hind heath. Elworth and Marsh Green were transferred from Bradwall in 1936. The population was 1844 in 1801, 4659 in 1851, 5558 in 1901, and 9253 in 1951. Tree 1: Joseph Brereton 1784 = Mary Hamlet. Sandbach.
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